King's College London

About us

King's College London offers an intellectually stimulating environment, where staff are dedicated to the advancement of knowledge and learning, in the service of society. We are a multi-faculty institution, providing high-quality teaching, research and innovation across the sciences, humanities, medicine, law, dentistry, and social sciences. As a member of the Russell Group, an association of leading UK research-intensive universities, we are committed to maintaining the highest standards in research and education. King's is the fourth oldest university in England, with more than 33,000 students from over 190 countries. Background information about the university including rankings, research outputs and King’s Vision 2029 is available: About us | About | King’s College London (kcl.ac.uk) 

The Yeoh Tiong Lay Early Career Fellow will be based at the Yeoh Tiong Lay Centre for Politics, Philosophy & Law (The YTL Centre), within The Dickson Poon School of Law, one of the oldest law schools in England and recognised globally. Established in 2013, the Centre holds a reputation as one of the world’s leading centres for the study of legal and political philosophy. Our aim is to illuminate the most pressing questions of our time through the application of rigorous interdisciplinary thought, and to engage policymakers and the wider public in an ongoing conversation on how to create a better society. Our research ranges from more abstract questions, such as those concerning the foundations of freedom and equality, to more applied ones, concerning, for example, the impact of AI or the abuse of human rights.

About the role

The Yeoh Tiong Lay Centre for Politics, Philosophy and Law (YTL) invites applications for the YTL Early Career Fellowship, a 12-month appointment due to commence in September 2025. The Fellowship provides a development opportunity to an early career researcher with exceptional potential in legal or political philosophical research and scholarship.  The successful applicant will have received their PhD in a relevant subject area within 5 years of the start date.

During the one-year appointment, the YTL Early Career Fellow will develop their research trajectory, with a view to producing a significant piece/body of high-quality publishable research, participate in academic peer-led events, as well as having the opportunity to develop their teaching experience, if desired 

The YTL Early Career Fellowship is funded by a generous contribution from The YTL Group with the ambition to enable The YTL Centre at King’s to foster innovative education and research and to make a significant, positive, lasting impact in society. The Fellowship will offer a valuable development opportunity to an individual with exceptional potential in legal and/or political philosophical research and scholarship.

The objectives and key responsibilities of the posts are as follows:

Research and scholarship:

During the one-year appointment, the YTL Early Career Fellow will:

• develop their research objectives and trajectory, with a view to producing a significant piece/body of high-quality publishable research.
• conduct individual and collaborative research and associated activities;
• extend, transform and apply knowledge acquired from scholarship to research and appropriate media;
• deliver presentations at conferences and participate in academic peer-led events.

Communication, liaison and networking:

The YTL Early Career Fellow will be expected to:

• collaborate actively within and outside the institution to develop research and advance thinking, contributing to the research environment and supporting the Centres aims and values;
• participate in and develop internal and external networks, for example to identify sources of funding or build relationships for future activities;
• be able to communicate complex and conceptual ideas to those with limited knowledge and understanding as well as to peers using high level skills and a range of media.

Initiative, problem solving and decision making:

• Develop ideas for application/dissemination of research outcomes;

This is a full time (35 Hours per week), and you will be offered a fixed term contract until 31/08/2026.

About You

To be successful in this role, we are looking for candidates to have the following skills and experience:

Essential criteria

1.      PhD qualified in relevant subject area 

2.      Strong potential to produce high-quality publishable research within peer-reviewed journals. 

3.      Strong potential to develop new concepts and ideas to extend intellectual understanding. 

4.      Experience delivering presentations at conferences and participation in academic peer-led events.

5.      Excellent verbal and written communication skills 

6.      Ability to communicate complex and conceptual ideas to those with limited knowledge and understanding as well as to academic peers 

7.      Commitment to The YLT Centre’s aims and values 

All applications should include: 1) a cover letter (max 2 pages); 2) a CV; 3) a single-authored article-length writing sample; 4) 2 academic/written references (this does not need to be from your current employer).

Please note, if you have your PhD by the start date (September 1), you will meet the criterion. Unfortunately, we are unable to consider applicants who will not have their PhD in hand by the start date. If your case is borderline, please feel free to address it in the cover letter.

Full details of the role and the skills and experience required, can be found in the attached job description which provided on the next page.

Further Information

We pride ourselves on being inclusive and welcoming. We embrace diversity and want everyone to feel that they belong and are connected to others in our community.

We are committed to working with our staff and unions on these and other issues, to continue to support our people and to develop a diverse and inclusive culture at King's.

To find out how our managers review your application, please take a look at our ‘How we Recruit’ pages.

Interviews are due to be held on: Mid-May. date TBC